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Five Hour, On Site Staff Training Program Outline

The Life Appreciation Four Phase Funeral Interview is a proven system of impacting family’s perception of value in the funeral enabling them to begin to participate in the development of a funeral ceremony in which they feel valued and rewarded. It was originally developed in funeral homes under the auspices of The University of Oregon.

The Four Phase Life Appreciation Funeral Interview is easy to learn, however, the ultimate goal and method of achievement is dramatically different then how most funeral directors make funeral arrangements. The Life Appreciation coaching staff supports the student as a part of the Five Hour Training Package after their Training through the learning curve.

The most common funeral arrangement mistakes are beginning the arrangements with the taking of the vitals, asking an endless list of “closed ended questions”, not discovering the families emotional experience around their loss, attempting to arrange the funeral far too soon after sitting down with the family, not obtaining quality information for which to make appropriate suggestions for the ceremony, not making ceremony suggestions that reflect the families value system, making inappropriate ceremony suggestions, not connecting emotionally with the family.

The Five Hour Life Appreciation Training Seminar begins with a demonstration of Phase One, The Support Discussion; there are four basic communication skills that enable bonding to begin rapidly between the funeral director and the family in the funeral arrangement conference. Many funeral directors start their arrangement by putting pencil and paper aside and chatting with the family before beginning the arrangements. Use of specific communication skills to connect emotionally with the family is something of a much more sophisticated nature. Mastering these specific skills requires a minimum amount of coaching but practice to become comfortable with them.

Even after the emotional connection is established, it is still not yet time to begin talking about the funeral. Phase Two, is The Life Review Interview. This is an indebt discovery of who the deceased was through the eyes of the family. There is a learning curve to acquiring this procedure because it is much more then learning about a few hobbies and friends. Real personalized funerals are far more then memory boards and personalized casket panels, they convey a sense of who the deceased was. They are Interactive or frequently completely non-verbal, but always powerful and moving for friends and family. Everyone has a philosophical and or spiritual or religious point of view that has shaped his or her behavior and personality. Everyone has life experiences that define their behavior and beliefs, prominent personality traits that others knew them by. Everyone has accomplishments from the highly personal and spiritual to physical and material. The Five Hour Training teaches a system of uncovering these sometime personal but deeply meaningful beliefs, experiences and achievements in The Life Review Interview in a way that captures the family’s imagination to make them participating partners in this exploratory effort. Over the period of time it takes to feel confident one has grasped the personality of the deceased the bond between client and funeral director continues to grow deeper.

Once the Life Review Interview is complete, it is still not time to begin talking about the funeral. The Third Phase is perhaps the strangest to funeral directors. It is the phase in which the funeral director completes a written evaluation of the Life Review Interview and begins to develop the funeral concept on paper for this individual client. This is again, not difficult but does require coaching through the learning curve. The Life Appreciation Training “Formula” developed in the research years at the University of Oregon is a comprehensive method to enable the funeral director to determine exactly what ceremony concept will energize this particular client, even when the client may not have known it at the outset of the arrangements. When the Life Review data is fed though the “Formula” the appropriate ceremony concept will simple drop out on the table. However how to present that concept is in it self an art and also can best be mastered through one on one coaching provided by Life Appreciation Training as part of the Five Hour Training Package.

The Fourth and final Phase of the Life Appreciation Interview is the Presentation of the Ceremony Concept. Rarely do funeral directors push the envelope on ceremony suggestions for their families because they simple are unable to acquire the enormous amount of data that this system makes possible and fear there suggestions will be declined. In this system the arranger is armed with all most “for sure” acceptable information before making his/her presentation. In addition, to acquiring confidence of acceptance for the presentation there is a specific procedure of presentation that requires mastering. Again, not difficult but with practice and coaching the technique can be mastered.

Clients interested in The Life Appreciation, Five Hour, On Site Staff Training are required to agree to initiate The Arranger Accountability Program included in the Training fee. It consists of the following.

1. Arrangers are required to use the Life Appreciating Funeral Interview Guide with every family following their Training with certain amendments to accommodate each client’s unique situation. LATS, staff customizes each clients Interview Guide in consultation with the company principals to accommodates individual needs.

2. Arrangers are required to meet twice a month with their supervisor to review each funeral arrangement. Life Appreciation Training will qualify supervisors for this effort.

3. The Client agrees to select and reward a particular arranger each month for outstanding effort.

4. Arrangers are required to participate in a minimum of two telephone coaching session with a Life Appreciation Training Coach following their Training at the completion of each of their first two funeral arrangements.

Additional coaching packages are available if required.